1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to iris recognition and more particularly to systems and method for improving security of biometric features including iris scans.
2. Description of the Related Art
The iris is considered one of the most accurate biometrics. A typical iris recognition system works by enrolling irises into a secure database by segmenting the irises and extracting features for the irises. When a query (security scan) of an iris is performed, the scanned iris is also segmented and feature extracted. The features of the scanned iris are compared or matched to the secure database to determine if a match is achieved. A determination of whether the scanned iris belongs to a genuine user or an imposter is determined. Iris recognition can be seen as a general biometrics authentication system.
Like other biometrics templates (e.g., fingerprints), iris templates can be stolen or cross-matched against different databases. These privacy and security violations often restrict the use of biometrics. A first problem is that if an iris template is compromised, it is lost forever. For example, after a second eye template is lost, the user has to use some other form of biometrics other than the iris. Once compromised, the template cannot be revoked.
A second problem concerns cross matching between databases. If the same iris has been used in two databases, all the details can be linked by using the unique iris template available in both of the databases. This can be a clear violation of privacy. A person cannot generate a new iris pattern if his unique iris pattern is stolen.
The iris biometric is a strong biometric in terms of recognition performance. However, a traditional iris biometric usage scheme is weak in aspects of security and privacy. It is possible that the digital format of the iris biometric could be attacked over a network. Digital iris biometrics may be encrypted, but whenever the encryption is cracked, the iris biometric security is lost for that person. This will affect all iris biometric applications.
In addition, as the owner of a server knows the exact biometric, there is no privacy that can be afforded to that person. This owner may also use this iris biometric information to blind match with other iris biometric servers to get more personal information on a given user.